SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, 56-54, at the hands of Hamilton College on Friday evening in the opening game of the Optimist Classic. In addition to Salisbury and Hamilton, three other teams will be competing in this weekend's tournament; the College of New Jersey, Lehman College and Frostburg State all made the trek down to Maggs Physical Activities Center to participate this weekend. 

The first half was extremely close, with both teams playing aggressive basketball in an attempt to establish an advantage. It was difficult, as almost every basket caused a lead change; with this back-and-forth play, Salisbury (3-1) was unable to create a substantial scoring cushion. The Sea Gulls still entered the locker room at halftime trailing the Continentals (4-1) by just two points. Senior forward Janay Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) led the charge for the Sea Gulls in the first half, scoring eight points in 12 minutes before an injury took her out of the game.

Salisbury came out of the gates strong in the second half, tying up the game at 31 apiece just 13 seconds in. The Continentals bounced back, leading by as many as seven points. The Sea Gulls continued to chip away at the lead to reduce the Continentals' advantage to just one basket, but were unable to capitalize on a last-second three-point attempt by junior guard Chante' McKinney (Gaithersburg, Md.) (five points, three rebounds). Johnson finished the night with 13 points.

Scoring was balanced for Salisbury, with seven different players finding the bottom of the net in the game. Senior forward Kylie Hall (Baltimore, Md.) nearly posted her fourth double-double of the season, netting nine points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Tonight's other match-up, between the College of New Jersey and Frostburg, will be played at 8 p.m. Tomorrow, Lehman College will square off against Hamilton at 6 p.m.; the Sea Gulls' game against the College of New Jersey will follow. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.